Brian Williams' reporting on Katrina: What we know

NBC's internal probe is also looking into reporting by Brian Williams (shown above on September 9, 2005) in the aftermath of Katrina.

It didn't take long for the scandal enveloping Brian Williams to prompt fresh scrutiny of one of the most formative reporting assignments of his career: His time in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

Did Williams really, as he later claimed, see a corpse float by his hotel in the French Quarter?

Photos turned up Friday showing that there was indeed water surrounding the Ritz-Carlton, where Williams stayed. Individuals who were also in the area at the time have confirmed the flooding.

Dr. Gregory Henderson, a pathologist who stayed at the Ritz during the storm, told CNNMoney that he recalled waking up the morning after the levees were breached to see floodwaters that were "waist-high."

"If the question is was there enough water around the Ritz-Carlton for a dead person to float, the answer is yes," Henderson said.

In a 2006 interview with former Disney CEO Michael Eisner, Williams described the horrifying scene in post-Katrina New Orleans.

"When you look out of your hotel room window in the French Quarter and watch a man float by face down, when you see bodies that you last saw in Banda Aceh, Indonesia and swore to yourself that you would never see in your country," Williams said.

Williams was lauded for his coverage of Hurricane Katrina. In the interview at Columbia, Brokaw said the story "elevated" Williams, who had become anchor of "NBC Nightly News" less than a year before the storm.

"You took ownership, if you will, of the anchor chair at that time," Brokaw told Williams.